MOBILE, Alabama – The middle-schoolers designed and built biodomes, held rocket launches and navigated obstacle courses.

There wasn't a lot of sitting still at the second Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics camp, and that was also a lesson for the 30-plus math and science teachers who took part, said camp director Andre Green, an associate professor in the University of South Alabama's College of Education.

The teachers "really got a chance to engage and delve into strategies that they would not normally use," Green said. "We feel that all the teachers walked away with new tools in their tool belts." They learned "better questioning skills" and hands-on activities to engage students, he said.

A frequent comment, Green said, was "why can't regular school be this way?"

"That's the question that we all ask ourselves," he said.

USA's College of Education funded the STEM Camp through a $462,000 grant from the state Department of Education. The two-week camp, for about 250 Mobile and Baldwin county middle school students, was held at Baker High School. Campers paid a $60 fee, which covered lunch, and each received a T-shirt.

There were 10 to 15 students in each group, and the sessions rotated each day among the four subjects, culminating in a challenge session. Students received recognition badges for displaying initiative and teamwork.

The state grant, awarded to USA in 2013, created the Alabama Math, Science, Technology Initiative, AMSTI-USA Professional Development Project, which was meant to help teachers with the Alabama College and Career Ready mathematics standards. Part of the grant required the creation of the three-year academic summer camp.

Other STEM Camp partners were school officials from the Mobile and Baldwin county systems and the Mobile Area Education Foundation's Engaging Youth in Engineering program.

Summer camp is a chance to keep kids focused on learning, said Richard Hayes, dean of USA's College of Education. "It's important to get these kids to continue to be engaged in the summer," he said. "They end up going back to school in the fall further ahead than their peers ... they'll have a greater sense of their own confidence."

The STEM campers, Hayes predicted, will be at the front of the class when school starts, instead of experiencing the post-summer slump that many teachers see in their students. "They'll have the excitement of actually knowing what's going on."

As more science- and technology-based industries move into the region, there will be more STEM-related jobs available, Green noted, and Mobile and Baldwin county graduates need to be prepared for them. "This camp is just one small way to get them interested and let them see that science can be fun."

As typical middle schoolers, the campers were a little lukewarm at first, Green said, but quickly became enthusiastic after the first day.

"The parents said the kids came home excited about STEM Camp and wanted to come back," he said. "It was something that they really wanted to participate in. ... it was just an enjoyable two weeks."